Landlords of low-income renters withdraw suits against St. Paul

A series of low-income landlord lawsuits, started over a decade ago and alleging that St. Paul city housing codes had a discriminatory impact against minorities, is now officially dead.

The three lawsuits, which started in 2004, accused the city of going to excessive lengths to condemn the properties of 16 landlords — a “code to the max” strategy that the landlords said reduced the number of affordable housing units available to minorities.

They claimed the result was a violation of, or had “disparate impact” under, the federal Fair Housing Act.